


New Universe

by ObtuseOctopus



Series: Living in Hue [7]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Eggs, Family, Family Fluff, Gem Egg Hell, Gemlings, Gen, Hatchlings, Motherhood, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:20:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23333761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObtuseOctopus/pseuds/ObtuseOctopus
Summary: • COMPLETE. •Finally, the eggs are hatching. The anxiety of motherhood is getting to Lapis.
Relationships: Bismuth/Lapis Lazuli (Steven Universe), Bismuth/Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe), Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe)
Series: Living in Hue [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1615498
Comments: 1
Kudos: 34





	1. Hatching

Early sunlight filtered through the small abode. When the light hit Lapis’ face, she twitched, rubbing her face before she stirred. She had been deep in slumber, needing her rest.

Just last night, the brood of eggs she kept incubated for a month finally began to hatch. The biggest egg managed to do fine- and from it emerged a purple gemling with primarily dark blue hair that glittered with traces of green and pink. Her skin had freckles of pink just across her cheeks as well as on her shoulders and back, about two or three blotches of green on only her shoulders as well with a darker blue in the middle of the green blotches resembling the eye of peacock feathers. For this reason, Lapis already planned on naming her Peacock, or Pea for short. Definitely Bismuth’s. She hatched on her own with the aid of her egg tooth, already chewing on the remains of her empty shell in order to get the nutrients that she needed a boost of. Lapis had cleaned her off using some warm water and a cloth nearby, courtesy of Bismuth of course, who also kept the small home at a sturdy temperature of just the perfect level of warm.

At the moment, it was just her and her babies. Bismuth was finishing up some work in Little Homeworld, and Peridot was covering a few classes for her until she could return. Nobody had seen the hatched babies yet. Lapis was left with nothing but the world of her offspring, a world that she already adored. Her oldest was snoozing away under the crook of her neck in the nest of pillows and blankets, having been cared for and requiring time to heal after her plenty of hard work hatching. Her egg tooth was gone by now, having fallen out once it had no more purpose, and the gemstone on her back was still soft and squishy. Her hair reminded Lapis of the fuzz on a baby robin’s head, super short and thin. It fluffed up a bit after drying, but still was plenty tiny. She found it cute.

Lapis was just waiting for the last egg to hatch. It had been cracking since dawn, the gemling inside working hours to escape the prison of her eggshell containment. Lapis knew better than to help too early, she’d give it a few until she’d cave and lend a hand.

She stretched out her legs so that they wouldn’t lock up or fall asleep on her, the gemling coddling up to her slightly moving alongside when she moved. Pea buried her face further into the crook of her mother’s neck, very dependent on warmth until she could regulate her own temperature. Lapis decided to sit up a little, adjusting the gemling so that she was holding her close to her chest, examining her further. She grabbed a small blanket, wrapping the baby in it. That should help with keeping her warm. Hopefully. 

She set Pea down in her lap, an arm always around her and holding onto her. 

Lapis had read some magazines before about babies and all; something about how they required skin on skin contact for a bond or something…? Maybe the blanket idea wasn’t the best? But she didn’t want her to freeze! 

What if she was doing this all wrong? And she hadn’t even been with the gemlings for at least twenty four hours yet- was she already horrible? Lapis cast a sorrowful glance down at Pea, bundling her up a bit further. Just in case.

Her navy eyes gravitated towards the unhatched egg now, noting the cracks and holes on the surface. The remaining gemling was still working on hatching. Lapis waited. 

She waited.

Then she couldn’t wait anymore. Her hands surged forward, ready to help.

Sure the gemling was supposed to hatch on its own using its egg tooth, but what if she was stuck? Suffocating?! She was trapped inside a dark prison with nothing-...

Breathe, Lapis.

Breathe.

It’s not a mirror, and it isn’t a prison. It’s a temporary state. It wasn’t put in there against its will, it’s nature.

Lapis’ hands froze, shaking.

She didn’t know what to do…

She _had_ to help. She had to…

So many horrible thoughts of what could happen crossed her mind.

Lapis took a risk, continuing on and helping crack the shell open, squeezing and pinching places of the egg where she knew it was safe to do so. She backed off once she did her part, able to see the gemling inside starting to wiggle its way out now. It was an aqua-green, also blotched but with lighter and darker aquamarines all over its body. The hair was very short and damp, a darker teal in color. Lapis watched as it eventually freed itself, and the egg at last split apart to reveal the wet gemling that had been inside. Could be either Peridot’s or Bismuth’s. But the soft gemstone on its head was a carbon copy of Peridot’s, so she confirmed her assumption. One was Bismuth’s, and one was Peridot’s. How lucky was she?

Lapis admired her for some seconds. Then, she got to work, doing the protocol that she had taught herself about tending to her daughter just like she did the last; wiping off and washing away the amniotic fluid, making sure the gemling was fine, and double checking that she was… well, alive in general. She wasn’t quite sure yet on a name for this one, but for a fact she knew _no_ Camp Pining Hearts names for certain. Perhaps Chryssie? She did seem to be a Chrysocolla… Or an Amazonite… She would think about it later.

For now, she was in bliss with her daughters, a strong attachment towards them already blossoming into love for them. She wrapped the youngest into a blanket as well, then she coddled then both close. The youngest seemed too exhausted for now to have a meal of her egg shards, so Lapis decided to let her rest for now. She could try and see if she was hungry after a few hours.

She didn’t entirely understand how they even got nutrients by… consuming their own eggs, but… it was nature. It was how it was gonna be and she needed to deal with it. Only thing was she just needed to figure out what they could eat as an actual meal. Magazines said something called milk, and honestly? It looked weird. At least with humans anyway. Lapis felt embarrassed by the amount of times that she had checked herself when she had the chance to on her own to see if she could even produce milk the way that humans could and… stars it was EMBARRASSING. She didn’t want to go into details right now. She wanted to relax and just… watch over her daughters. They deserved some rest after coming into the world. 

The strong scent of something Lapis could only describe to be like a kind of powder or if you took the ocean and gave it a mix of tangy vanilla fragments overwhelmed her nose. Instinct told her this was the smell of newborns- a dangerous smell if the wrong Gem was near. It was a for sure telltale sign of a mother in the area, and newly hatched gemlings at that too. They were still weak and vulnerable, they didn’t even have their eyes open yet nor could move much. If the wrong Gem was around, they’d be toast. Lapis was grateful that Bismuth gave her this small home to stay in for now, fortified and with a door too. It gave her some ease, peace of mind. 

Lapis assured her gemlings with her presence, settling back down into the nest after she set the eggshells aside to give her some more room to work with. From there, she fixed the blankets, making sure that both babies were warm and cozy. She brought them against her upper body after she lay down, relieving in the quiet and calm, an arm always around her brood.

Later, she could show off her children to everyone. But for now, she enjoyed just basking in a short nap with her daughters.


	2. Checkup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bismuth and Peridot start pitching in roughly a few days after the hatching.
> 
> Lapis does not do well when her kids aren’t right beside her.

Peridot was learning a lot more about Lapis with this gemling thing going on. Usually, Lapis would be civil, colonized, the kind of Gem that was in their right mind to hold conversation and understand what thoughts and feelings were, just like anybody else.

But ever since the arrival of Pea and Emily, Lapis began to show a side that nobody had never seen before. When she would assume a feral state, Lapis was more defensive, attentive, and prone to attack if anybody remotely looked toward the direction of her babies.

Even more so, it was _extremely_ hard to try and get her to calm down when she had one of these feral episodes. Peridot and Bismuth were still working on trying to find something that would ease the symptoms, with no avail thus far. It was hormonal. It was prime instinct. They’d just… have to wait it out when Lapis got a bit crazy.

“How much longer is this gonna take? I don’t think she’s happy in that little space,” Bismuth mentioned, keeping an eye on Lapis. In order to thoroughly check the gemlings and make sure that they were healthy, they had to remove Lapis from the equation. And she was not happy. At all. 

Before this, they thought of using a cage. But Bismuth pointed out how cruel it was, and Peridot agreed after some thought. However, there was one tiny detail; Lapis lazulis were attracted to water. Knowing this and using this, they agreed to hold Lapis in the bathroom at the Temple with the permission of the Gems there, the tub full of water for her and the wall temporarily raised a bit higher so she couldn’t get out thanks to Bismuth’s wood handiwork. Bismuth was also placed on duty to watch Lapis as Peridot performed a checkup on their offspring near the door of the bathroom, a basket full of blankets with a heating lamp sitting on the floor in the corner for Pea who was finished with her checkup.

“Shouldn’t be any long- Pea was healthy and there’s no signs of growth deficiency or a stunt in her development. I just have to finish up examining Emily…” Peridot responded, taking great care as she examined her own gemling.

Pea and Emily. Those were the names that Lapis gave them. Pea as in peacock ore, and Emily for… well, Peridot assumed it to be Lapis taking inspiration from Camp Pining Hearts or human culture from the magazines she would read before she had gemlings. Something along those lines. Emily was an okay name, not the best in Peridot’s book as compared to something like Percy or Pierre, but Lapis liked it and that was that.

Lapis was growing agitated, often moving back and forth in the tub, splashing water when she would sharply perk up and try to see what Peridot was doing with her brood. Bismuth held a towel ready in case she tried to escape, as Lapis was glued into feral mode right now. If she got out, she would cause ruckus. But at the same time, she needed to be able to see her babies. Peridot was devastated when she found out that Lapis got _stress marks_ on her belly if she wasn’t able to keep a line of sight on her gemlings. So they had to make sure that Lapis was able to see her babies as they got a checkup, but also assure that Lapis wouldn’t hurt anybody in fit of motherly rage. It was a deadly meet in the middle.

Peridot checked to see if Emily’s gemstone was properly developing, pride welling in her chest to see that the gemling had inherited her gemstone facet and cut as well as placement. Even if the gemling could still not see yet, her eyes still closed, her hair grew in fine and it reminded Peridot of her own. A bit longer, curlier, more blue in hue rather than flaxen yellow, but the lineage was there. 

“Four pounds and gemstone formed just the way it should… no wounds or defects…” Peridot made notes to herself as she finished up the checkup. “Great! Both of the gemlings are healthy and are growing just the way they should. I think it’s safe to assume that we can release Lapis now.”

“Oh thank Rose’s army- I feel like she was burning holes in the back of my head,” Bismuth shivered, steadily backing away from the fortified tub. 

Peridot went to go set Emily down with her sister in the warm basket. As she did so, Emily began to wiggle about. Then, she started to create a series of chirps and cries. 

Uh oh.

Peridot froze. Bismuth too.

“Uh… You should probably start running-“ Bismuth gave some helpful advice before Lapis burst out of the bath. Her hair and clothes, sopping wet with water, clung to her body as she rushed past Bismuth and towards the gemlings. 

Peridot loudly squeaked, dashing aside just in time. With the gemlings secure in the basket, she hopped on top of the closed toilet, proceeding to climb up onto the bathroom sink. 

Lapis knocked aside the heating lamp, throwing herself around her babies. She nuzzled the side of her face against both of the gemlings, letting them know that she was there. 

Peridot watched, Bismuth doing the same.

“So um…” Peridot struggled to speak, still spooked.

“Poor thing is just looking out for them,” Bismuth said, stepping around Lapis.

“Should we move them?”

“I think they’re good here for a bit. Garnet did say that Lapis would be stubborn.”

“At least nobody got poofed,” Peridot sighed with relief.

“You seemed to almost have a heart attack though,” Bismuth chuckled.

“Then thank stars I don’t have one…” Peridot murmured, watching Lapis.

**Author's Note:**

> // I need to one day write out some stuff for this AU Pfft but a few notes;
> 
> • Gemlings hatch without their sight, and have very soft gemstones when they hatch so that they don’t accidentally hurt them during hatching and to allow easier formation within the egg. They also eat the eggshell often after hatching as it still had plenty nutrients for them that helps harden their gemstone properly. Some moms also eat the eggshells to help with producing milk, which the gemlings need for a few weeks to grow properly.  
> • Gemlings have an egg tooth to help hatch with. They also have a very strong and particular scent hours after hatching, theorized as for to help the mother familiarize with her children, who also imprint on her in ways.  
> • Next chapter will go more into like... what they eat and stuff, as well as possibly an introduction to them wiggling around. You know how newborn puppies kinda blindly haul themselves around? Yup, that’s what the babies do after a few days. Their heads are too big for their bodies lol


End file.
